Say you want a profit of 10%, then figure out your actual costs and tack on 10%. Let me break it down for you: Costs / Expenses to include:the basics:

Supplies/materials

Studio rent (if you have a studio)

So, if you can add up your costs for the year, or a typical month (use caution here, as some month’s expenses will exceed your average) you can divide by the number of hours you will likely be working at your BusinessArt. Example: Monthly Expenses: Add up all of the ACTUAL costs for the past month:

150 Supplies/materials

50 Travel costs

60 Parking

40 Cell phone use

40 Utilities

50 Entry/submission fees

10 Membership fees/costs

400 Studio rent / utilities

10 Marketing

50 Insurance

total: $880 number of hours on BusinessArt that month: 40 hours 880 divided by 40 = 22 $22 / hour is the break even hourly rate, meaning, meeting all of the expenses for the month. The price you set for your artwork should reflect your time and materials. Yes, there’s some circular logic in there, since some materials costs are already factored into your hourly rate. But if you have to purchase any special materials to create the artwork, have it framed, etc. those are the hard costs for the specific artwork. So additional materials costs specific to a body of work consisting of ten pieces: $1500 Divided by the number of pieces (10) = $150 + your hourly rate to create each piece (10 hours each at $22/hr) = $220 Total break-even price of $370 per piece. That would be if you sell all ten pieces. What if you only sell one piece? Then don’t divide the $1500 by 10 Leave it at $1500 $1500 divided by one piece = $1500) add the 10 hours per piece x ten pieces (not just the one) = 100 hours 100 hours at a rate of $22 per hour = $2200 So one piece would go for $1500 + $2200 = $3700 That would be the break even price if you were to sell only one piece of an entire body of work. Again, that’s the break-even price. Now, figure out your profit.

10% enough?

10% of $3700 = $370Is that enough to meet your living expenses plus some extra for savings, special occasions, or meeting some unexpected expenses along the way (e.g. car repairs)? One month living expenses: $2000 Savings: $500 Other: $500 Total: $3000 Add $3000 to the $3700, and the price nearly doubles to $6700 for one piece, or $670 if you can sell all ten.That's almost 100% "profit" if you double your prices. So, somewhere between $670 and $6700 is your artwork price if you want to maintain your current living expenses. Things to consider: What the market will bear? Maybe you think $670 is way too high? You can always lower your prices, but expect to have to supplement your income by doing non-BusinessArt work. Maybe you think $6700 is too low? Maybe you want even more profit, or have extra cash on-hand to set-up a retirement account, save for a downpayment on a house, pay for college, etc. Well, add that into the equation. There are no real rules here, except what’s legally OK as far as taxes are concerned.